


Baby Blues

by imjustacryptid



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Borderlands 3 Spoilers, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, More tags as I go, Spoilers, a father and daughter relationship develops, also i miss krieg and i want him back, also if they do then lmk, ava didn't even have an arc so im making one, but not until after krieg makes her realize that yeah its kind of her fault for maya's death, i havent played borderlands in a while so forgive me if they seem out of character, im making this up as i go, the pov is from ava's perspective
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-20
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-02 18:55:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 9,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24281695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imjustacryptid/pseuds/imjustacryptid
Summary: It’s been hard to run Sanctuary 3 since Lillith left but at least I’m not doing it alone! I’ve got Tannis and the vault hunters to help me out. I’m not sure if I could run this thing without them, they’re basically my new family. Recently we got an old ECHO transmission from Pandora, and I don’t mean old as when the transmission was made, I mean old as in the ECHO itself was old. It was an ECHO-2, I’m surprised some of those things were still operating since… well… the whole combustion thing. Tannis told me it’s from a vault hunter that helped Maya take down Jack all those years ago. Krieg, I think was his name, or at least what he goes by.
Relationships: Krieg & Ava
Comments: 6
Kudos: 31





	1. NEW Diary Entry #1 I brought a literal psycho into Sanctary

It’s been hard to run Sanctuary 3 since Lillith left but at least I’m not doing it alone! I’ve got Tannis and the Vault hunters to help me out. I’m not sure if I could run this thing without them, they’re basically my new family. Recently we got an old ECHO transmission from Pandora, and I don’t mean old as when the transmission was made, I mean old as in the ECHO itself was old. It was an ECHO-2, I’m surprised some of those things were still operating since… well… the whole combustion thing. Tannis told me it’s from a vault hunter that helped Maya take down Jack all those years ago. Krieg, I think was his name, or at least what he goes by.

I remember Maya talking about him a few times. He was apparently a psycho that saved her life! Even though he was a psycho he was apparently more sentient than most and he had a dark past as a slag experiment which I thought was super cool. He was actually the one to give Jack the final blow! Though it was apparently very graphic as Maya would never explained how he killed Jack no matter how many times I asked her. I knew Krieg liked her the moment she admitted that he would call her “pretty lady” but Maya would flat out deny it, the poor guy didn’t even stand a chance. Then again, who would date a psycho? Yeah, people on Pandora are desperate but not _that_ desperate. They were unhinged and deranged, always yelling about meat bicycles and eating babies. A siren like Maya – like me – has much higher standards.

I had no idea what the maniac was saying but somehow Zane was able to decipher it. I’m guessing it’s because both of his brothers ran groups of psychos. I was surprised to hear that Krieg did not fall into the Children of The Vault cult, but instead hid away from everyone as soon as the vault hunters broke up. But being so isolated left him out of the loop on… well… everything really! So he was basically asking what the hell was going on.

I’ve always wanted to meet one of the Vault hunters from seven years ago, as Maya would always talk about the adventures they’d go on. So this was a perfect opportunity!

As the vault hunters tried to explain what has happened, I decided to chime in.  
“Why don’t we just bring him to Sanctuary?”

Everyone stopped their conversation and stared at me for a second as an awkward silence filled the air.

“What? It would be a lot easier to explain things to him…” I added. I can’t stand awkward silences.

After another silence, Zane piped up.

“I agree with the young lass, I’d like te meet this fella up close and personal.”

“Are you kidding? Letting a psycho into our Sanctuary is a huge risk! Even though the Calypsos are dead those guys are ruthless!” Moze retorted.

“She does have a point, even though he is a vault hunter he is also a psycho. It would be a liability to let him into the ship.” Fl4ck added.

“Well if he does start causing trouble, I could just beat him down.” Amara replied and punched her open palm.

“Though I’ve never really talked to Krieg, he is trustworthy in my opinion. He did help defeat Handsome Jack, after all, all of that without ever hurting his cohorts. In fact, there were times where he sacrificed himself to save everyone else. He may be a psycho but he’s also a good man… as unhinged as he may be.” Tannis explained.

Tannis seemed to help make up everyone’s minds... well that and my constant pleading. They gave Krieg coordinates so that the vault hunters could pick him up and bring him to Sanctuary. Since his ECHO device is out of date, he’s no longer hooked up to Hyperion’s system, so they have to bring him up through a pod or something. From what I could hear through their ECHO devices, he sounded like a psycho but at the same time, he made sense if you really thought about it, like it wasn’t just nonsense. For instance, he asked about the phoenix on the moon and Zane explained that it was Lillith’s doing. He didn’t sound too violent and there didn’t seem to be a struggle when they got him into the pod. Once they entered the ship only Zane and Moze returned to the main hub.

“Where is he?” I asked in confusion as I looked around for him.

“Poor feller puked half-digested skag meat all over the floor before we arrived. Guess he wasn’t used to space travel eh Moze?” Zane nudged the ex-soldier with his elbow and snickered.

“Bitch threw up all over my boot!” Moze shouted and grimaced as she shook off some gross vomit on her shoe.

Ew. But also kind of hilarious.

“Oh, come on, he didn’t do it on purpose. Be lucky he didn’t aim for yer face!”

“If he did, he’d have a gun aimed at his face.”

“Well, where is he? As well as Amara and Fl4k?” Tannis asked.

“They’re keeping their sights on him while he recovers, he should arrive in ten.” Moze explained.

“Ye better be ready! He’s a big one!” Zane added and gave two thumbs up.

Despite his tone, it wasn’t really reassuring.


	2. Diary Entry #2 I ACTUALLY MET KRIEG WTF!!??

I could hear three sets of footsteps coming from the stairway that led to the hub, and of course the little pitter-patter of Mr. Chew’s footsteps. I could tell that one of them was much heavier than the other two. Although Fl4k looked big, it was because of the baggy clothes they wore, I haven’t seen them naked or anything (nor do I want to) but their footsteps are surprisingly light than what you would expect. And sure, Amara was well built but she was also really light on her feet, much better at boxing than wrestling in my opinion. The last set of footsteps however, sounded like a badass just entered the ship and was calmly stomping his way up the stairs to greet me. I was actually kind of intimidated.

My eyes widened as I watched the hulking figure emerge from the lower deck. Yeah Maya said he was big, but you’ll never really know unless you meet them up close and personal, and holy hell he was HUGE! He towered over everyone in the room! I felt like a total pipsqueak compared to him. He was also _ripped._ Like, he could tear a tree trunk in half with those arms. His muscles were practically bulging from his skin to the point that it was almost disturbing. You could probably mistake him for a badass psycho at a quick glance. But the most telling feature that he wasn’t is that his arms were the same length, and the more you look at him, the more features popped out. Like he had his own mask that was different from most psychos, one of his eyes was covered by a belt buckle while the other one looked around warily and his respirator jutted out on the left side of it (well… right for him, left for me). He also seemed to have a customized buzzaxe which was luckily holstered onto his belt thanks to my and everyone else’s relief. His body was also riddled with scars and his right arm was covered in bandages.

I carefully made a few steps towards him, scared that for some reason any sudden movements would set him off. I looked up at him in disbelief.  
“Are you Krieg?”

There was a moment of silence as the psycho narrowed his eye at me, seeming to scan my features for a moment.

“IN THE FLESH!” He finally shouted in a deep and somewhat hoarse voice.

His voice echoed throughout the ship, making the metal rattle a bit. It set the vault hunters on alert, but I was ecstatic.

I giggled giddily and clapped my hands like a kid.

“This! Is! So! Awesome!” I squealed excitedly.

Krieg tilted his head at me in confusion. I’m not surprised though; he has been out of the loop for so long. He probably doesn’t even know who I am. I took a moment to compose myself.

“I’m Ava! I used to be Maya’s apprentice but now I’m officially a siren!” I exclaimed.

The moment I saw his eye light up is the moment I wished I bit my tongue for once in my life.

“Pretty lady?” He asked as he looked around the hub in a desperate search for her.

“W-well she’s not here right now uh-”

I felt a hand on my shoulder which cut me off and made me stiffen up. I looked up to see that it was Tannis, but she wasn’t looking down at me, her eyes were focused on Krieg.

“Krieg, to say that you have missed a lot would be an understatement.” She sighed.

“WHERE IS PRETTY LADY!?” The psycho demanded and approached Tannis. I stepped away in fear while the vault hunters gripped their guns, Amara’s hand gripping tightly around his wrist. But Tannis stood her ground, being a siren has definitely given her confidence.

“Easy there big lad…” Zane said in a wary tone.

“I’ll talk about her in just a moment but for now you need to-”

“NO! I HAVE BEEN DEAD FOR SEVEN YEARS! I WILL CONTINUE TO DIE UNTIL I FEEL THOSE BLUE FLAMES AGAIN!”

He tore away his arm from Amara’s grip like it was nothing and pointed an accusing finger at Tannis, but he didn’t touch her. The vault hunters drew their guns and pointed it straight at the psycho’s head.

“Told ya this was a bad idea.” Moze commented.

“Well… I suppose since you’re going to keep insisting…” Tannis sighed.

I knew what she was going to do, and it was a bad idea, but Tannis had a hard time thinking about other people’s reactions and emotions. Well, at least that’s the nice way to put it, I just call her a self-centered prick.

“Everyone, put away your weapons, he’ll grow more hostile if there’s a barrel pointed at his head.”

The hunters looked at each other hesitantly before slowly lowering their weapons.

“Krieg, I hate to inform you but Maya… is dead…”

His brow tensed, like he was processing what she just said before his eye opened wide. He silently backed off of Tannis, stumbling over his steps slightly. The psycho shook his head in disbelief, looking around frantically as if this was some kind of prank on him and he was looking for the hidden cameras. But there was no confirmation of this being a sick joke.

I could hear a weak and shaky, “No” leave his lips before he ran off.

“Hey!-” Amara called after him.

“Wait up!” Zane followed.

“Should we seize the psycho?” Fl4k asked and turned their head towards Tannis. She opened her mouth to reply but I spoke up first.

“No.”

Suddenly, everyone’s eyes were on me and I shifted nervously.

“I think he just… needs time alone… like I did…” I explained as I tried my best to not look down at the floor.

There was a moment of stillness before everyone seemed to silently agree and put away their guns.

“Well we should have someone check on him, periodically at least,” Tannis suggested. I can’t tell if it was out of concern for him, or out of concern for everyone else.

“Not it!” Moze shouted.

“Not it!” Amara followed.

“What are we? Children?” Fl4k asked unamused.

“I’ll go.” Zane volunteered.

“Oh no, you’ll get him some booze and make him drunk. The last thing we need is a drunk and grief-stricken psycho running around.” The ex-soldier responded.

“Well, no offense girly, but you don’t exactly give the best comfort.” The operative retorted with a smirk. He wasn’t wrong.

They continued to bicker amongst themselves until they all agreed to check on him in shifts.


	3. Diary Entry #3 I want to talk to him

The wailing had been going on for a while now. I haven’t been able to sleep because of it. They’re so bone-chilling and echo throughout the ship, if no one knew any better they might think we invited a banshee into Sanctuary. But nope, it was just a broken-hearted psycho. Luckily, he hasn’t turned to violence just yet, none of the vault hunters came back injured when they left to check on him.

Recently it has stopped though. I know the vault hunters are checking up on him but… I’m kind of worried. I should take this opportunity to get some sleep but now I can’t stop thinking. Yeah, it’s a war and people die but… Maya was close to both of us and maybe I could comfort him? I don’t know, it’s a stupid idea but I’m gonna try anyways.

Hermes was asleep on my bed when I left, probably for the best, Krieg could crush the little guy without even lifting a finger. I decided to bring Maya’s book with me, since it was the only thing I had left of her, that and the cool tattoos on my arm. I carefully tip-toed down the stairwell to the second floor, my guess was that he was on the third floor since there was a lot of empty space down there. I searched the third floor for a while and turns out, I was right (of course). It was a side room off of the cargo bay, he was huddled in a corner. He was facing the wall with his knees close to his chest, his mask was off, and it was lying beside him but I couldn’t see his face. As curious as I was to see his face, I chose not to crane my neck to see, it felt like a breach of privacy; like if someone decided to read through my journal like that jackass Maliwan captain. I couldn’t hear much coming from him except for stifled sobs.

“Uh… hey…” I broke the silence in a quiet voice. I was scared that if I spoke too loudly that I might scare him or something.

I heard a faint gasp and the psycho reached for his mask. He threw it on his face before turning around to look at me and fiddling with the straps to tighten them to his head. His eye was red, he’d been crying for a while. He narrowed it at me apprehensively, moving from a sitting position to a squatting position and backing up into the corner like a scared animal. I, myself, didn’t stand to my full height, I stayed crouching as I slowly walked towards him. I suddenly found myself at a loss for words as I stared at him. Even crouching he was still pretty big; he was probably eye level with me now that I think about it. I was worried that if I said the wrong thing that he could break me in half like a toothpick. I sat down like, ten feet away from him with crossed my legs and Maya’s book beside me.

“What brings the girl to a dragon’s nest?” He asked as quietly as his booming voice could manage. His voice was even raspier than before, guess all that wailing tore at his vocal cords.

I grew stiff. “I uh…” I cleared my throat nervously, “I just wanted to talk to you…” I responded while trying my best to keep eye contact with him.

His eye widened in what I assumed to be shock. I guess none of the other vault hunters attempted to console him or anything, just came down here to make sure he didn’t hurt himself or others. My heart lept into my throat as I watched him stand up, scooting back a bit and nearly pissing my pants when he walked towards me. I was about to get to my feet and make a run for it, but he sat down when he was a foot or so away from me, mimicking my sitting position. He looked down at me expectantly, yet also patient. Maya always told me that despite how loud and wild he was, he was always a good listener, to her at least and when the time called for it. I didn’t believe it until now. I took a second to calm down my heartbeat before I spoke.

“R-remember when I said that I was Maya’s apprentice?” I asked.

He tilted his head to the side. “Pretty lady?”

“Yeah, her.”

He nodded with a grunt.

“Well… I watched her pass away, right before my eyes…” My gaze drifted to the floor, so I couldn’t really tell what he was thinking, but I noticed the loose grip he had on the cloth of his pants.  
“We were in a vault and we started arguing, and then the Calypsos came, and then she started fighting them, and then…” I trailed off, it hurt to recall what happened even now.

The grip on his pantlegs tightened before loosening again. One hand let go of the cloth and reached up. I suddenly felt a soft weight on my head. Did… did he just pat me?? Had it been anyone else I’d be pissed. I’m not a child! But I didn’t take it as a good idea to yell at a thirty-foot-tall psycho.

“Stories can make the soul weep.” He stated.

I took his actions as confirmation that I didn’t need to continue, whether it was for my sake or for his I couldn’t tell. He pulled his hand away when I looked up at him and rested it on his lap. I grabbed her book and placed it on my lap.

“This is… the only thing left of her…” I explained as I tried to keep my voice from cracking.

He stared down at it for a long moment before reaching out to touch it, but he stopped halfway and looked at me. Like he was silently asking permission. I looked down at the book and considered it. It’s not that I was afraid that he might damage it in some way, it was more like… I was afraid to let go of it.

I held the book close to my chest. “I’m sorry, I’m not ready to let it go just yet…”

Surprisingly, there was no sound of protest from him, just a simple nod before retracting his hand. In the blink of an eye, his eye suddenly grew dark.

“I need the sweet taste of bloody revenge.” He growled. It sent a shiver up my spine.

“The calypso twins are dead so… I guess her soul is avenged.” I responded meekly.

I heard what I assumed to be a disappointed sigh as his expression went back to less threatening. I don’t blame him, I would’ve kicked Troy’s ass if I had the right firepower for it.

“Lass?”

Both of our heads snapped up to the entrance of the room to see the silhouette of Zane Flynt.

“What’re ya doin’ here? Yer supposed ta be asleep.” He said as he walked towards me. His expression wasn’t mad or disappointed, more concerned; which was surprising coming from him.

“I couldn’t sleep,” I responded and shook my head “so I decided to hang out with Krieg instead.” I motioned my head towards the psycho.

“Ah really?” He mused turning his gaze to Krieg. “Ya know, I’ve been meaning ta talk ta ya, but I’d figure I’d let you mourn first. Glad te see ye got yerself tagether.”

“Need more glue…” Krieg mumbled to himself.

“Well! Since we’re all up, why don’t we go fer a little midnight snack at Moxxxis?” He asked. “And you and I could get absolutely shitefaced.” He winked at Krieg.

“The beast hungers!” Krieg yelled and stood up, making me jump slightly.

“Hell yeah!” I exclaimed and stood up excitedly.

Midnight pizza was always the best.


	4. Diary Entry #4 Pizza night!

“Well if it isn’t the big psycho himself,” Moxxi called as we entered the bar.

I scrunched up my nose as the familiar scent of cigarette smoke and booze hit me in the face. The senses I sacrifice in the name of pizza.

“Hey sugar, sorry I couldn’t visit you when you arrived, I was busy… elsewhere.” She leaned against the bar counter as we approached it, her eyes were on Krieg.

“No warm welcomes for the wicked.” He huffed.

I wonder if they've ever done some weird stuff together. I wouldn’t put it past Moxxi, since I heard she dated a cannibal once. Then again, Krieg had his heart set on Maya, would he go to anyone else for gratification? He’d probably accidentally rip her in half now that I think about it.

Most of the people in the bar were either too drunk to even register that Krieg was there, recognize him, or were wary of him. I’m guessing that since Moxxi is giving him a welcome that no one has attacked him yet. That and she doesn’t like fights in her bar. Krieg seemed somewhat tense and I don’t blame him, this is all probably new for him since he was isolated for so long. The loud noises and bright lights might give him a sensory overload, I’ll have to keep an eye on him.

Zane leaned against the opposite side of the bar counter, giving Moxxi a suave look. “Heya good lookin’.” He greeted and pointed a finger gun at the bartender.  
“Hey sugar~” She responded and batted her eyelashes. I rolled my eyes, but Krieg didn’t seem to care.

“I was wonderin’ if we could get a big pepperoni pizza te share. And the usual fer me, on the rocks.” His head turned to Krieg. “What do ye want ta drink big fella?” He asked and nudged the psycho’s arm with his hand.

He pulled away from his arm slightly and looked at Zane. “Fire burns through my veins!” He responded.

Flynt and I looked at each other in confusion before looking at Moxxi for clarification. A slight frown tugged at the corners of her lips.

“The eridium in his body burns away any alcohol before it can enter his veins. So, the poor guy can’t get drunk.” She explained with unironic sorrow in her eyes.

“What!?” Zane shouted in bewilderment and stood up. His mouth was agape as he looked from Moxxi to Krieg. I couldn’t help but laugh, it’s as if they explained the cure for cancer or something.

None of them really paid the operative any mind. “I’ll get you a tall glass of water, kay sugar?” She gave Krieg a wink and he nodded.

“Can I have a soda?” I questioned as I sat on one of the stools.

Her expression immediately warmed up as she saw me. “Of course, sweetheart! What would you like?”

I couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment. Moxxi always treated me like a child, no matter how many times I restated my age to her. I guess it’s because both of her kids have already grown up and one of them, unfortunately, passed away before I could meet him. Maya talked about him sometimes, Scooter, I think. She’d always explain to me that he died a hero, so I try to be patient with Moxxi.

“Oh… just some Twizz Fizz…” I said in a slightly more hushed tone, not able to keep eye contact with her.

“Of course, pick a booth and I’ll be right with you.” She ordered as her gaze switched between the three of us.

We began to walk off, but Krieg stayed behind. I watched him over my shoulder as I followed Zane. He dug for something in his pocket before pulling out a handful of credits (I’m not sure how much) and shoving them into her tip jar. Moxxi spoke to him (I was too far away to hear what she said) and blew him a kiss as Krieg caught up with us.  
Oh yeah, they’re totally doing something behind closed doors.

Flynt chose a mostly clean booth that was surprisingly away from the ruckus a few tables away. I’m guessing he did that for Krieg’s sake since the psycho was already getting overwhelmed. Zane and I sat on one side while Krieg sat on the other, he almost took up the entire booth with how big he was. I forgot to mention this until now, but Krieg can’t seem to sit still. His leg was always bouncing, or his fingers would tap against something. He can’t seem to pay attention to one thing. Right now, he was tapping a made-up tune on the table with his hands.

“Man, I can’t imagine what me life would be like if I couldn’t get drunk.” The operative started the conversation as if we were already in the middle one. “It’d be a lot more boring I tell ye. Ya know some of me best adventures happened while I was drunk.”

None of us really responded as he continued his one-sided conversation.

“Like that one time I wrestled a bullymong with me bare hands. Sure, every bone I had was broken by the end of et but ye should’ve seen the other guy! But I’m sure ye went on plenty of adventures with yer old vault huntin’ pals, eh?” Zane tapped Krieg’s arm with his hand.

The psycho’s head snapped back to look at Flynt as he had apparently been staring at something else before he had gotten his attention.

“We were part two in a three-part meat play, and I won the role for BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR!” He shouted and pumped his fist in the air triumphantly.

Krieg’s enthusiasm got me excited and I decided to speak up. “Like the story where you defeated Handsome Jack!” I exclaimed and sat up. “Maya would always talk about that it.”

I immediately flinched after I mentioned Maya, hesitantly switching my gaze to see his reaction. His intense stare was directed at his knuckles. They turned white from how hard he was gripping the table. I could see his breath shortening from the way his chest expanded and contracted quickly. I bit my lower lip and shrunk back as I tried to figure out a way to diffuse the situation.

“S-sorry Krieg… I shouldn’t have-” Zane cut me off before I could continue. “Easy there, big lad. Deep breaths.” His tone was surprisingly calm as his arms and hands were outstretched.

I turned my head to Zane in confusion. “What’s going on?” I whispered.

He leaned over towards me and responded, “Anxiety attack.”

I nodded slowly, pretending to know what that meant. I heard Kreig wheeze as he tried to slow down his breathing and buried his face in his hands. Before any of us could do anything else, Moxxi came by our table with the drinks. There was slight concern on her face as she noticed Krieg’s posture, but a forced smile soon replaced it.

“Here you go, sugars.” She said and passed out our drinks in slow and flowing movements. Krieg’s drink had a straw in it, I’m guessing it’s because he wouldn’t have to lift his mask. “I’ll be back in a while with your pizza, try not to get too excited while I’m gone.” She winked and left but not before giving another concerned glance towards the psycho.

When I looked back at Krieg, his breaths were slow but uneven. He grabbed his glass and shoved the straw under his mask so he could drink through it.

“So, I’m guessing he knows how she passed?” Zane asked with a slightly hushed tone as he turned his towards me.

I shook my head. “Kind of but… I didn’t really get into the details.” I looked down at the table.

“Well, that’s alright. I’m sure it’s hard fer the both of ye.” His hand lightly patted my back. “I’ll explain it te him later, but fer now,” He turned his gaze to Krieg with a slight smile, “Let’s enjoy ourselves!”


	5. Diary Entry #5 I love pepperoni!

It took a while for the pizza to get here, but Zane helped pass the time by telling stories about what kind of adventures he went on, by himself or with the other vault hunters. The drunker he got the more absurd they became. Krieg and I would chime in occasionally but while I had mostly questions Krieg would just scream some psycho nonsense that Flynt seemed to have understood. Finally, Moxxi came over with two large boxes of pizza. Which is weird because I thought we only ordered one.

“One large pepperoni” she placed the pepperoni pizza in front of Zane and me, “and one large meat pizza~” She cooed as she placed it in front of Krieg.

I could practically _hear_ him drooling under that mask, his eye was wide as he stared at it.

“The doll treats him too well!” He exclaimed as he shifted in his seat, barely able to contain his excitement and/or hunger.

“On the house, sugar. Take it as a welcoming gift.” Moxxi winked at him and patted his shoulder but he didn’t seem to notice or care.

Krieg quickly shoved his mask up to reveal his mouth and dug into the pizza like a starved skag. When was the last time since he ate? I couldn’t help but stare as he scarfed down his pizza. He had a big and gnarly scar on the right side of his face that tore apart his lip to reveal his teeth underneath. It was gruesome but also really cool. I heard Maya say that he had that scar before he even joined the Vault Hunters. I wonder if he got it from his life as a lab experiment?

“Ey! Where’s my gift?” Zane asked in a mocked offended tone, pretending to look hurt.

Moxxi sauntered over and gave the old man a kiss on the cheek.

Zane smirked. “That’ll do.” He responded and didn’t bother to rub away the new lipstick stain on his face.

I rolled my eyes as she walked away. “I’ll be at the bar if you need me~” She called and gave us a small wave.

Zane lazily waved back while Krieg and I didn’t even bother as we dug into the pizzas.

Flynt grabbed a slice of pepperoni and took a bite before leaning against the table and looking at Krieg. “So, seems Moxxi likes you a lot, eh?” He teased and let out a chuckle.

The psycho only let out a grunt and rolled his eye in response. Flynt and I exchanged glances of shock. Looks like we found the only man that doesn’t care for Moxxi’s advances.

“Ye should be lucky, big lad. Moxxi might be flirtatious but she doesn’t just give around free pizzas like hotcakes.” The old man responded and laid back on his side of the booth as he continued to eat his pizza.

“The blood maidens are delicious to my eyes.” Krieg mumbled between bites.

I looked at Zane in confusion as he nodded understandingly.

“He likes girls who are more violent.”

I nodded slowly as a faint “Oh” left my mouth. Maybe I could hit him up with Amara sometime.

“Can’t blame ye there lad. I, meself, like the taste of danger. But I know from experience that Moxxi isn’t afraid te get her hands dirty. Ya know she ordered me and the rest of the vault hunters to kill one of her ex’s? Yeah, she’s grown a lot more spiteful since… well…”

Except for the distant music and chattering our booth was silent for a moment. It seems that even though Krieg was pretty detached from everything he even knew about Moxxi’s son. Maybe that’s why he’s so patient and even nice to her as well because he knew Scooter personally.

“A strong little doll.” The psycho murmured before scarfing down another pizza slice.

That seemed to snap Zane out of his stupor.

“Whoa, be careful there. Wouldn’t want te die by choking on a pizza slice, eh?” He laughed after he asked that, but Krieg did not look amused.

“The belly of the beast is bottomless!” He spat, small chunks of pizza flying out of his mouth and onto the table. Gross…

“Oh yeah, I’m sure it is” Zane responded lightheartedly, “especially since ye coughed up half of a skag on yer way here. I wouldn’t blame ye fer being starved.”

At this point it was difficult for me to keep my eyes open, it felt like 100-pound weights pulling at my eyelids. I tried not to show it as I slowly munched away at my third pizza slice. Surprisingly, it was Krieg that noticed my drowsiness first.

“Little blue is a sleeping skag.” He stated.

I was slightly annoyed when he called me little, but I was too drowsy to protest. I shook my head. Partially as a response and partially to keep myself awake. “No, no, I’m fine…” I mumbled.

Zane turned to look at me and smiled. “Oh! Looks like this little bugger needs te get some shut-eye.” He snickered and pulled me over to ruffle my hair.

“No! I’m fine!” I laughed and loosely struggled to get out of his grasp.

Krieg finished the rest of his pizza before pulling his mask down. He wiped the pizza grease on his pants before standing up. Zane followed and pulled me out of the booth with him. The psycho picked up the partially empty pizza boxes before digging into his pockets, probably looking for loose credits. Or, at least, that’s what Flynt thought as he reached over and patted his arm.

“Don’t worry about that big lad, I’ll take care of the tab.” He stated and pulled out his wallet, tallying up the cost.

“Thanks Sugar, but you know you don’t need to do that.” Moxxi acknowledged as Krieg set the pizza boxes on the bar counter.

Before Krieg could respond the Flynt slammed his credits on the bar counter. “There ye go, pretty lady, and keep any of the extra change” He shot Moxxi a wink, “I would stay fer longer but this little bugger needs te hit the hay.” He gave my hair another little ruffle.

“Goodnight sugars~” She cooed as her eyes drifted between Krieg and Zane before looking at me “Goodnight sweetheart.”

“Yeah, yeah.” I murmured in response.

Zane escorted me out of the bar and outside my room with Krieg following behind us. I was kinda hesitant on showing Krieg where I live but I was right next to the vault hunter’s rooms so I should be fine. Plus, I’m training Hermes to protect my journal when I’m not around.

Zane stopped near the entrance of my room and spun us around to face Krieg. “Well, this is where we part ways little lady.” He let go of me as he stated that before stretching. “I think I might grab some shut-eye too. What about ye big buy?”

Krieg was silent for a moment, eye looking around as he tried to find the right words. “Ain’t no rest for the wicked.” He finally responded and shifted on his feet.

“You can’t sleep?” I asked and he nodded.

“Oh man, sorry te hear that lad. The only sleeping aids we have here are tranquilizers and I doubt they’d work on you-” Zane’s joke was cut off by a low growl coming from Krieg. Looks like he struck a nerve.

There was an awkward moment of silence before the old man cleared his throat and spoke up. “Welp! I guess ye can hang around the ship fer a bit while we catch some Z’s, we’ll call on ye in te morning ‘kay?”

Krieg didn’t give a response, he only turned around and walked down the steps.


	6. Diary Entry #6 Krieg likes animals??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haven't written in a while because a lot has been happening right now. As well as I have been hitting a big creativity streak when it comes to my art.  
> This chapter is a bit short to get ready for the next one.

We don’t really have a curfew on Sanctuary 3 so I get to sleep in as long as I want and usually I sleep in super late since I stay up super late. But today, Krieg’s thunderous voice woke me up with a jolt. I didn’t know what he said since I was too drowsy, but he wasn’t in my room, luckily. His voice just seems to… reverberate throughout all of the ship. I can’t really explain it.  
I groaned curse words as I got myself to look decent. I wish the siren tattoos would help me look more like Maya and Lillith, but I guess beauty isn’t what they’re meant for. Maybe I’d be taken more seriously if I looked more mature. Whatever, I guess… I looked for Hermes, but he wasn’t in my room, that wasn’t surprising, he tends to wander around the ship a lot.

I opened my door and gasped. KRIEG WAS HOLDING HERMES IN ONE OF HIS HANDS! The guys so small he could crush him!

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” I exclaimed and ran over to Krieg, not really thinking.

The psycho looked at me in surprise and his grip on Hermes loosened enough for the little guy to wriggle out of his hand. I grabbed him with both of my hands and yanked him away, holding him close to my chest.

“Don’t hold him like that! You could’ve hurt him!”

Once the small rush of adrenaline was over, I took a moment to actually take in what I just did. I just yelled… AT A PSYCHO! A BADASS ONE NO LESS! My eyes slowly crawled up the bigger man’s form to look at his face. I was nearly shaking in fear. But surprisingly, he didn’t look angry at all, I couldn’t really tell what emotion he was feeling though. I subconsciously loosened my grip on Hermes, which gave him enough room to squirm out of my hand and onto my shoulder. Hermes didn’t seem scared of Krieg, then again, the little guy is welcoming to all kinds of people. Not even people sometimes. Krieg outstretched his arm towards my pet, stopping in front of his snout. Hermes sniffed it for a second before nuzzling his face against it. At that moment I saw a bit of a child-like joy within Krieg’s eye.

“Were you just… playing with him?” I asked the psycho as my demeanor relaxed slightly and I petted Hermes.

“Hide and squirm!” He responded loudly.

Before I could ask anymore, I heard a couple quick footsteps coming up the stairs. Amara and Fl4k rushed up the stairs along with Mr. Chew, guns out, teeth bared, and fists clenched.

“We heard your yell and we came as fast as we could!” The siren shouted.

“Is this sack of slagged meat causing you trouble?” Fl4ck asked and pointed the barrel of their gun at Krieg with their skag crouched and ready to pounce.  
Out of the corner of my eye I could see Krieg stiffen, one hand going to his holstered buzzaxe as he readied himself for an attack.

“No, no! It’s fine, just a misunderstanding!” I responded quickly. Wanting to diffuse the situation before things got messy.

The vault hunters looked at each other before withdrawing their weapons. Fl4k’s skag sat down and Krieg removed his hand from his buzzaxe but his posture was still stiff.

“Very well…” The robot responded.

“I can take care of myself guys, I am a siren after all…” I huffed and crossed my arms.

“I’m sure you can, but we don’t want to take any chances around…” Amara’s voice trailed off as her eyes drifted to Krieg.

The psycho clenched his hands into fists, but other than that he didn’t give any other reaction.

“Well, he wasn’t doing anything wrong, he was just… playing with Hermes.” I explained, hoping to change the subject.

“What?” Fl4k asked. Both vault hunters showed a bewildered expression.

I nodded. “Yeah, I just took it the wrong way.”

As if on cue, Hermes hopped off my shoulder and onto Krieg’s, nuzzling his face against his mask. The psycho’s posture loosened almost immediately, the smile in his eye came back as he laughed giddily.  
Amara seemed pretty weirded out but Fl4k seemed… amused? I can’t really tell since they don’t really have a face.

“Anywaaayyss. We were about to wake you up because we wanted to explain what really happened to Maya. You can come, if you would like, but we understand if it’d be too hard on you.”

I know they didn’t mean it, but it always bugged me the way that they thought that if they even mention Maya I would break down in an instant. I’m not that fragile. Krieg though, I’m not sure, he inhaled sharply when her name was mentioned.

“I’ll be fine Amara.” I responded sternly, maybe adding a little more frustration than I wanted to.

“Alright, I was just letting you know.” She responded, maybe a little more stiff than she wanted to let off as well.

“Well, we should get going, the others can’t wait all day.” Fl4k remarked and Mr. Chew barked in agreement.

“Okay, okay, let’s get going.” I sighed and looked up a Krieg. He nodded, signifying that he was ready to go.


	7. Diary Entry #7 Murderer

We arrived at the main hub of the ship where Zane, Moze, and Tannis were already waiting for us. I wasn’t surprised to know that Claptrap didn’t show up, as much as I want his personality to diffuse the tense air. Maya has explained repeatedly that Krieg didn’t like anything that was related to Hyperion, especially Claptrap, there were many moments where the entire team had to stop Krieg from dismantling him. I don’t know why so many people don’t like Claptrap, especially after so many of his heroic deeds, but I’m getting off subject.

“Heya lass! Wasn’t sure if yer ever gonna wake up.” Zane greeted and waved at me.

“I had a certain alarm clock today.” I joked and nodded at Krieg. It took a second for him to process the joke before he burst out laughing.

I mostly chuckled at Krieg’s reaction since the joke wasn’t really that funny. Nobody else really laughed but I could tell I lightened the mood a bit.

Fl4k sat down next to Zane, who had his feet propped up on the table, along with Moze and Tannis. Amara leaned against the table while Krieg and I remained standing. A tense silence filled the room before Tannis decided to speak up, sitting up in her seat.

“Well, I’m sure you all know why we’re here. As much as we all probably dislike discussing Maya’s death, we must describe it for Krieg’s sake. Hopefully, afterward, we’ll be able to explain everything else.”

“If ya know why we’re all here then why are ya explainin’ it?” Zane butted in jokingly.

“I was trying to establish that we were all on the same page.”

“Where do we even start?” Moze asked with a sigh.

“Maybe we should summarize everything that led up to that?” Amara suggested.

“I doubt the tyrant cares about the details.” Fl4k retorted and their skag barked in agreement.

Oh no, this was the start of another argument between all of them. I crossed my arms, trying to look as grown up as I can before shouting at all of them to shut up, but Krieg beat me to the punch.

“ **QUIEEEEEET!** ” He roared, making the entire ship (including me) shake.

The Vault Hunters and Tannis froze in their tracks, all heads turning to Krieg.

“I HEAR ENOUGH VOICES!” He jabbed a finger at his temple (which were kind of bruised now that I look at them), “STORYTIME OR NO TIME!” He ordered and pointed an accusing finger at all of them.

The hunters and Tannis all looked at each other, trying to come upon some nonverbal agreement. Zane removed his feet from the table and sat up before speaking.

“Well, me thinks the best place te start is at te vault.”

The others nodded.

“The Vault was located at the center of the city of Promethea, we wanted to access it first before the Calypsos could.” Moze started.

“Of course, there is always a huge vault beast that we had to kill before we had access to the vault. Once the beast was defeated, we entered the vault to reap our spoils.” Fl4k explained.

“Our communications went down as soon as we entered though, so we didn’t know what happened. Once we left the vault Maya was… gone…” Amara finished.

I hesitantly looked up at Krieg. He looked absolutely pissed, his hands were balled into fists and they were shaking.

“WHAT GOOD ARE THE ACTORS IF THEY CAN’T PLAY THEIR PARTS!?” He yelled and slammed his fists onto the table, nearly breaking the poor object in half.

Everyone in the room jumped back from Krieg, the vault hunter’s hands resting on their gun holsters.

“Easy there, big lad-”

“NO, YOU EASY THERE! SPOILS AND RICHES CLOUDED THE FOOL’S MINDS AND MADE THEM LOOK PAST THE REAL GEM!”

“Krieg!” Tannis stepped in, “as they said, the communications were down so they couldn’t tell what was going on outside of the vault. There was nothing any of us could do.”

The psycho took deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down, he had a hard grip on the table with his knuckles turning white.

“There’s just… one piece of the story left.”

Suddenly, all eyes were on me, some expectant, some concerned, but Krieg’s were downright livid. It took everything I had not to run for dear life… and to not shit my pants. I swallowed and took a deep breath before explaining.

“Maya told me to stay on the ship, but I came down anyway because I’ve never seen a vault until then. And she always told me that I was destined to be a Vault Hunter, a Siren! So I really wanted to see one! … We were in the middle of an argument when the Calypso twins arrived. Tyreen sucked all the power out of the vault monster before attacking me and picking me up by the neck. I tried but I couldn’t get out of her grip. That’s when Maya used her powers to hold Troy in a chokehold, ordering Tyreen to put me down… but when Tyreen did Troy touched Maya’s arm and-” Tears welled up in my eyes, but I refused to cry, I didn’t look at Krieg either. “He drained _everything_ from her. Her powers, her life… I.. I watched the life drain from her eyes as she told me to ‘be ready.’ I can still remember her screams before she turned to dust…” I made a pathetic sniffle as I wiped my eyes on my sleeve.

I let the silence hang in the air before my eyes slowly trailed up from the floor to Krieg’s face. His face turned from utter shock to complete hatred. I could feel the blood leave my face as I watched him walk towards me. I tried to step away from him, but I was paralyzed in fear as he stopped to tower over me.

“ ** _You…_** ” He growled, sending a shiver down my spine.

He gripped my tattooed arm, _hard_ , I yelped in pain. He yanked me up to match his eye level.

“YOU DO NOT DESERVE HER MARKINGS!” He roared in my face, making me flinch.

His words ripped through me like a rabid skag. I knew I could never live up to Maya’s image, but hearing it from someone else just seemed to solidify it. But her death wasn’t my fault! It was Lillith’s for not doing something to help! I was about to open my mouth to respond but then I heard the familiar cock of multiple gun barrels.

“I’m only gonna say this once, asshole.” Moze’s voice came from behind him. “Let. Her. Go.”

Krieg looked over his shoulder at the multiple weapons aimed at his head before looking back at me. His eye was still that of boiling anger as he let go of my arm and dropped me. I landed hard on my ass, quickly scooting away from him before getting up on my shaky legs and running, running as fast as I could. His voice chased me through the halls.

“MURDERER!”

“ ** _MUUUUURRRDERER!_** ”


	8. Diary Entry #8 It's not my fault

I locked myself in my room, holding Hermes close as I tried to block out Krieg’s screams of rage. His voice carried throughout the entire ship and into my very being, it made tears well up in my eyes. I’m not a murderer! It wasn’t my fault! I didn’t kill Maya, Troy did! Lillith should’ve done something! The vault hunters should’ve done something! It’s not my fault! I couldn’t hold back the pathetic sobs that left my mouth as tears traveled down my cheeks. I buried my face into Hermes who cooed and nuzzled against me, trying to reassure me and calm me down. I stayed like that for a while until I heard Krieg’s voice slowly fade away, they must’ve done something to finally sedate him.

I laid down on my bed, not wanting to leave my room for the rest of the day. The silence was welcome as it lingered in the air, but then self-doubt reared its ugly head, making me wonder that if I didn’t follow Maya… would she still be alive today?

“It’s not my fault… right, Hermes?” I asked as I looked down at him.

He craned his neck to look up at me and blinked, not seeming to register my question.

“Never mind…” I sighed.

There was a soft knock at my door.

“Go away.” I hissed and turned my back to the door while trying my best to not sound like I was crying my eyes out.

“It’s Amara.” Said the quiet and muffled voice through the door.

I didn’t budge for a while. Out of all the Vault Hunters, Amara was probably the most supportive and comforting person after Maya’s death. She always knew what to say and she motivated me to keep going and to keep fighting. She’s like a big sister to me.

I sighed and got up from my bed to unlock my bedroom door. The door slowly slid open to reveal Amara. I kept my head tilted down and looked up at her through my bangs. Her facial expression was a mix between concerned and heartbroken, I hated that look, mostly because it was directed towards me. I rubbed my nose on my arm before standing up straight and crossing my arms.

“What do you want?” I asked in a somewhat hoarse voice.

“I just wanted to check up on you… are you okay?” She asked, keeping her soft tone.

“I’m fine,” I mumbled coldly, avoiding eye contact with her.

There was a moment of silence before she spoke up again. “You didn’t kill Maya, you know that right?” She placed a hand on my shoulder, but I pulled away.

“Yeah! I know! That Krieg guy is just… a stupid jerk! Ugh, why did I think it was a good idea to bring him to Sanctuary!?”

Amara sighed. “Once a psycho, always a psycho.” She mumbled.

“You gotta kick him out.”

“Oh, trust me, I would love to… but he needs to wake up first.”

“Really? What did you do to him?”

“He took 12 of Fl4k’s tranquilizer darts before he passed out. He’s resting in the med bay with Tannis.”

My eyes widened. “Holy slag.”

Amara chuckled. “Yeah, I tried to knock him out the old-fashioned way but that just seemed to make him angrier.”

For a split second, I thought about the chance that I might have to defend myself against him and shuddered. There’s no way we can keep him in Sanctuary, especially since he’s super pissed at me.

“How long do you think he’ll be out?” I asked.

Amara shrugged. “Dunno, Fl4k said it’d be around an hour or so since he can burn through the sedative so quickly, but his body won’t be in the best shape. We’re not exactly sure how eridium reacts to tranqs.”

I nodded and sighed. “Great.” I crossed my arms. The first time I meet another one of Maya’s vault hunting buddies and they want to strangle the life outta me. I hope nobody else in her group was that unhinged… this sucks.

“You need some time alone?” Amara asked as she slowly turned to leave.

I shook my head. “No, no I… I want to go see him.”

Amara's eyes widened and her brows raised in shock. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I mean he’s asleep so, what’s the worst he could do?”

An uncertain look appeared on her face. “Alright, but I’m coming with you.”

“Fine.” I sighed, though a wave of relief washed over me. As much as I hate to admit I don’t think I could ever face Krieg alone, even if he was asleep.

The walk towards the med bay was silent, which is fine, I didn’t feel like talking anyway. I knew that Amara wanted to talk though, she kept opening and closing her mouth like she wanted to say something, but somebody took her voice.

“What?” I asked as I looked back at her.

She blinked at me in surprise and hesitated as she tried to find the right words. “Why do you want to see him?”

I thought about it for a moment. I didn’t really have a reason why I just wanted to see him. As scared as I am about him there’s still part of me that’s just too curious to ignore him. He just has so much mystery around him that you need to peel away and discover all his secrets.

I shrugged. “I dunno. Just curious I guess.”

The Partali warrior stopped for a second and stared at me, trying to see if I was lying or not. What did she think I was gonna do when we got there? Try to kill him? Yeah right, like a wimp like me could take down a fucking goliath. I stared back at her for a moment until she shrugged.

“Alright, if you say so.”


	9. Diary Entry #9 Probably one of the worst ideas I've ever had in my life

Tannis was organizing medicine when Amara and I arrived at the med bay. I could see that Krieg was asleep on one of the stretchers, his body was curled to nearly a fetal position.

“Ava!?” Tannis exclaimed as soon as she saw me and set the medicine down. “Are you sure it’s wise to come to the med bay at this time?”

“Nope,” I admitted with a shrug.

The scientist looked at Amara for some type of explanation but all she did was shrug as well. Tannis sighed in frustration.

“Well, I’ll have you know that he should be waking up soon. He’s displaying effects of what I can only assume are nightmares. Now, whether that’s caused by the tranquilizers or not I am uncertain.”

“Nightmares?” I repeated in surprise, my eyes moving back to Krieg.

“Yes, I hypothesize it’s one of the reasons why he can’t sleep. Now the reason why he has nightmares I’m uncertain as well…”

I began to tune Tannis out as I walked towards the sleeping giant. His brows were furrowed as his limbs were twitching, mumbling words that I couldn’t quite make out.

“How can a big guy like you get nightmares?” I asked rhetorically as I stopped near the side of the stretcher.

Was it because of his past? What he has become? How long has it been since he last slept? How can he run on no sleep? Was this a side effect of the Eridium?

I was snapped out of my thoughts when Kreig thrashed his arm, I jumped back in surprise. He was still asleep, but he growled like a cornered skag.

“Is it… normal for him to do that?” Amara asked.

Tannis nodded. “Oh yes, he thrashes around every minute or so, I tried giving him covers earlier but he kept kicking them off.”

“How’s Zane doing?”

I turned around to face the other 2 sirens, slightly shocked. “He hurt Zane?”

“Krieg just pulled his arm out of its socket; he should be fine by tonight,” Tannis reassured me. “You should be more concerned about Amara.”

“Tannis, I’ve told you, I’m fine. It’s gonna take more than a few punches to beat me down.”

“You sure? Because I could’ve sworn, I heard _something_ crack.”

“Really? Hmm, must’ve been a few ribs.” Amara stretched and a few foreboding pops echoed throughout the room.

Loud rustling brought our attention back to Krieg. He was thrashing violently like somebody was on top of him and trying to pin him down.

“No! NO!” He yelled in his sleep.

“What’s happening?” I asked Tannis.

“He’s waking up…” She responded in an almost disturbing calm.

Just then, Krieg’s eye shot open, he breathed in a bunch of air before screaming like his life depended on it. His back arched from the stretcher and the scene looked like something straight out of an exorcist movie, except this was actually terrifying. It sounded like the souls of the damned were escaping his body through his mouth. His blood-curdling screams eventually turned into stifled sobs as he sat up and covered his mask with his hands.  
I was about to take a step towards him, but Amara placed a stiff hand on my shoulder.

“Krieg?” Tannis asked.

His head snapped to look at the three of us, his hand going to his holster to find that his weapon wasn’t there. Tannis must’ve confiscated it when he was brought into the med bay. He quickly backed off the stretcher, almost falling onto the ground, the sedatives seemed to not have completely worn off. He groaned loudly and held his head.

“Crush the cranium.” He whined.

“Krieg, maybe you should sit down,” Tannis suggested and walked beside him to aid him, but he quickly backed off. He growled at the scientist as he backed into a shelf, knocking off a lot of its contents, he gripped it hard as he tried to steady himself. “It’s only now that I realize that bringing him to the med bay was not such a good idea.”

“Why’s that?” Amara asked.

“Well, you see, Krieg doesn’t really trust scientists or doctors, not even me.”

The psycho clutched his head again with another growl, stumbling to his knees and placing his head on the ground.

“What’s going on?”

“He must be reacting negatively to the tranquilizers. I believe I have something that assists with migraines, and I’d be able to find it a lot faster if _somebody_ didn’t knock over my medical supplies.”

Tannis’s eyes scanned the floor that was filled with broken and spilled medical equipment. Meanwhile, Krieg was thumping his head against the ground, psycho nonsense spilling from his mouth, it was genuinely horrifying. Amara began to assist Tannis in trying to find the medicine when I felt my left arm growing warmer. I looked down to see that my tattoos were glowing! That’s never really happened before, only when I used my powers.

“ _Help him._ ” I jumped as a voice echoed through my head. It… it sounded like Maya’s.

I looked back at Krieg and I believed I knew what I had to do. I cautiously walked towards him with my arm outstretched, taking a deep breath before touching the back of his head. He grew stiff as my tattoos grew hotter before the extra heat rushed out of my arm and… into Krieg? It’s hard to explain. A quiet moment passed where everything seemed to have stood still. I slowly tried to retract my hand from his head, but his hand quickly grabbed my wrist which made me bite back an undignified squeak. He tilted his head so he could look at my tattoos, I could almost see a sort of longing in his eye as it traced the familiar patterns, but then his eye trailed up to my face and his longing quickly changed to anger. He roughly pushed me away which made me stumble back on my feet.

“You’re welcome!” I spat.


End file.
